My MoneyHelp for the kid’s bank on your Mac.

We forgot the parent PIN

On the PIN screen, choose “Forgot the PIN? Use this Mac’s password”. The app asks macOS to verify you with Touch ID or your login password, and once it does, you can set a new PIN.

This is deliberately the only way back in. There is no reset file and no override code, so a kid cannot work around it — but anyone who can log in to the Mac as a grown-up always can.

A kid forgot their passcode

Choose “Forgot my passcode” on the lock screen. Same idea: the Mac’s own login proves a grown-up is present, and then the code can be cleared and set again.

Only a salted hash of a passcode is ever stored, so nobody — including us — can read the original digits back.

Where is my family’s data, and how do I back it up?

Everything lives in one plain-text file on your Mac. Settings → Show in Finder reveals it. Copy that file anywhere to back it up; put it back in the same place to restore it.

Writes are atomic, so an interrupted save cannot corrupt it, and updating the app never touches it — the file lives outside the app itself.

Moving to a new Mac

Install My Money on the new Mac and open it once, so it creates its folder. Then quit it, and copy bank.json from the old Mac into the same location on the new one, replacing what is there.

Avatar photos live in that same folder, so copying the whole KidsBank folder brings the pictures across too.

The allowance didn’t get paid

Allowance is paid when the app is opened on or after the chosen payday, and it catches up on any paydays missed while the app was closed — each one exactly once, never twice.

If nothing arrived, check under Settings (behind the parent PIN) that the allowance is switched on, that the amount is not zero, and that the payday is the one you expect. The same applies to the monthly bank bonus, which is credited on the first launch in a new month.

Deleting everything

Drag My Money to the Trash, then delete its folder:

That removes every transaction, goal, badge and photo permanently. There is no copy anywhere else — nothing was ever sent off your Mac — so nothing survives it.

Does it need the internet?

No. My Money has no network access of any kind: no accounts, no sync, no ads, no analytics, and no third-party code. It works exactly the same on a plane as it does at home.

The full detail is in the privacy policy.

Still stuck?

Email support@tenorrapps.com. Bug reports, questions, and requests for features you wish it had are all welcome.